The 2015 Philippine Trust Survey Revealed Most Preferred Leadership Quantities! (Press Release)

Recently, EON held and event that showed the 2015 Philippine Trust Survey results on what type of leadership most Filipinos prefer.

2015 Philippine Trust Index panelist

For Filipinos, two of the most important quantities of a government or business leader is the ability to listen to feedback / opinion and those who have a genuine concern for their people. That's according to the fourth Philippine Trust Index which is a nationwide survey that examines the levels and drives of trust in six key Philippine institutions. That includes: government, businesses, NGOs, media, academe and the church.

In its latest version, PTI expanded their research that now includes Filipinos' perceptions of an engaging leader for both business and government. Their recent survey showed that Filipinos value government leaders that are willing to listen to their constituents garnering the highest percentages from both the general and informed public at 17 and 18% respectively.

On the other hand, "showing genuine concern for people" garnered 12 and 13%, and "having a strong political will" got 12 and 13% too. However, only two out of ten Filipinos agree that government leaders today possess these top three important qualities.

Just like government leaders, a the most valued traits of a business leader is to listen to their employees feedback and concerns at 19% for the general public and 23% for the informed public. The "genuine concern" on the other hand got 17% both for the general and informed public. Similar to the government result only two out of ten Filipinos agree that company executive today are receptive to employees' feedback and truly concerned for their subordinates.

“Our findings on the most valued leadership qualities further underlines the importance of conversation and communication in building trust for public and private institutions,” shared Junie del Mundo, CEO and Chairman of EON The Stakeholder Relations Group. 

“The findings are very much aligned with the key insight from last year’s PTI, where an overwhelming majority of the respondents said it is ‘very important’ for Government, Businesses, NGOs, and the Media to communicate to its stakeholders. Dialogue and listening to stakeholders should be the new framework for institutions, especially leaders of institutions, to build reputation and earn trust,” Del Mundo emphasized.

Trust rating of institutions plateaus

Continuing the tradition of the previous PTI surveys, the trust rating of the institutions along with the drivers of trust for the institutions were again examined this year.

The 2015 PTI survey however saw no movement in terms of the ranking of institutions based on trust rating. Church remains to be the most trusted institution in the country, with an overwhelming 73% of the general public and 68% of the informed public claiming to trust the church very much. The academe again garners the second highest trust rating (51% and 46%), followed by media (32% and 23%). Still at the bottom are government (12% and 7%), business (9% and 9%), and NGOs (9% and 8%).

Government and business trust drivers same across different demographics

Diving into the trust drivers for government and business, survey results show that the top trust drivers for government and businesses are the same across different demographics; from general to informed publics, from urban to rural areas, as well as respondents from the different socioeconomic groups.

For government, the trust driver with the highest garnered percentage - “ensures national peace & security” - is a surprising development as this appeared only in this year’s PTI. The other top trust drivers are  “helps the poor address basic needs such as housing, food, and education”, “improvements Philippine economy”, “puts to jail corrupt politicians”, “prepares communities for disasters and calamities”, and “provides better job opportunities.”

For business, the top trust drivers are “providing good salaries and benefits”, “practices fair labor”, “improves quality of products / service”, “pays the right taxes”, “doesn’t discriminate employees”, “treats its customers well”, and “implements environment-friendly policies and programs.”

Another new feature of the 2015 PTI is relationship between the public and private sectors. While 23% of general public and 20% of informed public agree that collaboration and partnership and partnership between the government and business have a positive impact on the country, very few respondents agree that government supports MSME development (14% from general public and 9% from informed public) or is doing well in regulating business activities (13% from general public and 9% from informed public). 

LGU now most trusted government sub-institution

Within government, survey results revealed that local government units (LGU) is now the most trusted among government sub-institutions, garnering 19% from the general public and 17% from the informed public. Following LGUs are the Supreme Court and the Regional Trial Courts. 

Also, when comparing the data from 2012 to 2015, the trust in local government units also was the most stable relative to the more volatile levels of trust in the country’s executive, legislative and judicial institutions. On the other hand, the Office of the President suffered the greatest decline in trust with only 15% of the general public and 11% of the informed public trusting the Office in the 2015 PTI – a 13% drop since 2012.

Healthcare remains to be most trusted

Within the business sector, Health and Telco are the most trusted. Health garnered 37% from the general public and 29% from the informed public while Telco garnered 30% from the general public and 31% from the informed public. A close third is Water (29% and 24%). On the other hand, the least trusted industries are Legal Services (14% and 9%), Advertising and Public Relations (13% and 11%), Alcohol and Tobacco (7% and 4%) and Mining (5% and 4%).

Another new feature in this year’s PTI is the top-of-mind trusted companies and survey results show that almost a third of trusted companies are malls or manufacturers.

Internet usage continues to grow

Duterte is an internet superstar

While television remains to be the most trusted source of information on government and business, this year’s survey showed that trust on online media continues to increase. General public trust on online sources jumped to 16% this year from 11% last year for information on government, and 20% from 15% for businesses. This jump in trust may be attributed to increasing internet usage.

“Results of the 2015 PTI Survey show how important it is now to utilize all channels – from traditional media, to online news sites, and even social media,” shared Malyn Molina, Managing Director of Engage, the newly launched Public Affairs and Government Relations business of EON Group.

“The communication landscape today means that organizations and companies have to listen more to their stakeholders, even consider stakeholders beyond the usual groups it engages, and truly understand their position or concerns,” Molina added. “Increasing trust on digital platforms definitely makes the communication landscape more complicated. However, it also means that more Filipinos now can express their opinion in a bigger, more public space and participate in important national and regional discussions.”

The 4th Philippine Trust Index covered 1,620 respondents from various socioeconomic, educational and demographic backgrounds. Face-to-face interviews with respondents from urban and rural areas in NCR, North Luzon, South Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao were conducted to glean insights on the various factors that contribute to Filipinos’ trust in institutions.

Now every Filipino should take a good look to the following results (especially leaders or various organizations including aspirants) and let's all start making the change needed to improve our lives and eventually the country. Hopefully, surveys like this will have an impact to everyone and continue to improve on our weaknesses.

For more information, visit www.eon.com.ph.